Apparatus for tying coil springs together



Feb. 25,- 1936. s. KRAKAUER ET AL APPARATUS FOR TYING COIL SPRINGS TOGETHER Filed Oct. 25, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l 1936- s. KRAKAUER ET AL APPARATUS FOR TYING COIL S PRINGS TOGETHER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1954 2 I All INVENTORS Samuel flafdua amuel J/Mwms ATTORNEY.

Feb. 25, 19.36. s. KRAKAUER ET AL APPARATUS FOR TYING COIL SPRINGS TOGETHER Filed Oct. 25, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENT 150M061 finial/er Jamar/Sfidraa .BY

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 25, 1936 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR TYING COIL SPRINGS TOGETHER Samuel Krakauer and Samuel S. Marcus,

New York, N. Y.

. Application October 25, 1934, Serial No. 750,002

Claims.

The objects of our present invention stated generally are, first to provide a relatively compact and simple mechanism for feeding a spirally formed wire across alined coiled springs to tie the same together either at their tops or bottoms or both as the spirally formed wire rotates during the feeding movement thereof; second, to provide a continuously operating driving means for feeding or moving the spirally shaped formed wire with a rotating movement and permitting quick and positive stop to the movement of the spirally formed wire without stopping the actuating mechanism which normally feeds the wire; and third, to provide such mechanism constructed and operated in conjunction with the guiding means to facilitate the insertion of the spirally formed wires to be fed "or driven thereby without stopping the operation of the mechanism.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of theinvention will become more apparent and will be pointed out during the course of the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the mechanism for advancing the spiral wire to bind the coil springs together; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 showing two adjacent coil springs being bound together by the advancing spiral wire;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a'view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of two coil springs bound together by a spiral wire;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a table with mechanism embodying my invention mounted thereon;

,Fig. 8 isa detailed fragmentary side elevation view of the means for raising and lowering the upper feed roll;

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view through a double arrangement of mechanism such as shown in Figs. 1-3 for advancing upper and lower strands of spiral wire to bind respectively the tops and bottoms of the coil springs;

F1Fig. 10 is a view taken on the line Ill-l0 of Fig. 11 is a fragmentary plan view looking in the direction of the arrows on the line of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 showing a further modification in the feed rollers.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 8 designates a base plate above which are oppositely disposed upstanding ears 9 connected to the plate or formed as a part thereof, and at the other end of the plate upstanding brackets or plates l0. Shaft II is mounted through alined openings in the ears 9 and on one end of the shaft is rotatably mounted a pulley |2 held on the shaft by collar l3 which is secured to the shaft by a set 5 screw M. The pulley I2 is formed with or connected to a sleeve |5 rotatably mounted on the shaft and carrying a pair of sprocket wheels l6 and I1. Mounted between brackets I0 is a shaft IS on which is rotatably supported a sleeve l9 connected to a gear and a sprocket 2|. A sprocket chain 22 is trained around the sprocket l6 and sprocket 2|. Also secured between the brackets ||l .are a pair of alined shafts 23 and 24, the former provided with a collar carrying a gear 25 and the latter provided with a collar carrying a gear 26. The teeth of the gear 25 mesh with the gear 20 and also mesh with a gear 21 on a shaft 28 mounted between the brackets Ill. The teeth of the gear 21 also mesh with the teeth of the gear 26, so that when the sprocket I6 is rotated the sprocket 2| will also be rotated to rotate the gears 20, 23, 21 and 26. The shafts 23 and 24 have connected thereto for rotation therewith, elongated rollers 28 and 29 between the brackets I0 and on the outside of one of the brackets 0 the shafts also have connected thereto portions of rollers similar to 28 and 29 and designated by the numerals 28' and 29.

A pair of arms or elongated plates 38 are connected to the shaft II by set screws 3|. The other ends of the arms 30 are interconnected by plate 32 through which screws 33 engage into the arms 38. A shaft 34 is mounted between the arms 30 and has rotatably mounted on one of its ends a sleeve 35 which is provided with a gear 36 at one end, and a sprocket 31 at its other end. A sprocket chain 38 is trained around the sprocket l1 and the sprocket 31. Also mounted between the arms 30 is a shaft 39 on the outer end of which is keyed a gear 40, the teeth of which mesh with the gear 36. Between the arms 30 on the shaft 39 is a roller 4| similar to the rollers 28 and 29 and positioned thereabove and having on one of its ends a portion of a roller 4| similar to the portions 28' and 29. Obviously the arrangement of the sprockets and gears is such that when the pulley 2 is rotated, all of the rollers 28, 29, 4| and portions 28, 29' and 4| will all be rotated in the same direction.

Between the rollers 28, 29, 4| and the portions bearing corresponding primed numerals, there is an opening or space 42, and each of the rollers is provided with grooves 43 slightly inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the rollers, the

grooves being relatively arranged as shown in Figs. 2-5 to receive the spirally formed wire 44, so that as the rollers are rotated the wire will be rotated thereby, due to its frictional engagement in the grooves when the rollers are in the full line position of Figs. 3 and 5, and also moved longitudinally of the rollers to be fed across coil springs. 45, which may be arranged in alinement on pegs P as shown in Fig. 7. To facilitate inserting or feeding the wires 44 to the opening 42 and to the grooves 43, we provide a funnelshaped member 46 which has a neck 41 alined with the said opening. The neck of the member 46 extends through an opening in a plate 48 which is secured toone of the brackets l6 as by shouldered bolts 49 and nuts 56. A'nut 5| is threaded on neck 41 of the member 46 and bears against one face of the plate 48 while the member 46 on the other side of the plate 48 is provided with a shoulder which abuts the. plate. We may hingedly connect a-cover 52 on one of the bolts 49 by bending an end of the plate 52 around the bolt. The cover is preferably of a width substantially equal to the distance between the plate 48 and one of the arms 36 and one of the brackets I6, so that the gears arehoused under the cover and inside of the plate 48. We may also provide a fiat spring 53 on the plate 48 with a projection 54 to hold the cover 52. down in the full line position of Fig. 1 and yet-permitting it to be swung to the dot and dash line position of Fig. 1 when it maybe desired to lubricate the parts.

As long as the parts are in the full line position of Fig. 3, when a wire 44 is fed through the funnel-shaped member 46, it will be moved longitudinally'with a rotating movement when the rollers28, 29, 4| are rotated. However, it is desirable to stop the longitudinal and rotary movement of the wires 44 when passing the wire from one'pair of coil springs to another, so that the operator can be sure that the end of the wire 44 is alined with the top or bottom coils of the springs 45, whereby they will be tied together as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 6. We find that my providing for movement of the roller 46 away from the rollers'28 and 29 that this stopping of the feeding movement of the wire 44 may be accomplished 'quickly and without stopping operation of the sprockets and ears. To this end, the roller 4| is carried by the arms 86', which as previously mentioned, are pivoted on the shaft As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the plate 32 connecting the other ends of the arm 36 has tapped therein a screw 55, and the base 8 has tapped therein a similar screw 56, the screws receiving the hooked ends of a coil spring 51 which normally tends to-pull the arms 36 and the roller I 4| carried thereby downwardly, so that the three rollers are in driving relation to feed the wire 44 therebetween. If the spring 51 is disconnected from either of the screws 55 or 56, the arms 36 may be swung up freely with the shaft ll sewing as an axis of rotation to give clear access to the rollers 28 and 29 and the lower gears. The swung up or open position of the arms 36 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 as designated by the letter 0.

Referring to Fig. '7, it will be noted that we have shown a supporting table T on top of which are two rpws of the pegs P and at the end of the rows on top of the table is the apparatus just described; Fig. 'I further showing the pulley l2 driven by belt 3 and motor M. A board 58 is pivotally connected by links 59 to the top of the table and springs 66 are mounted between the board and the front edge of the table normally holding the board away from the table but permitting movement of the board toward the table. Also in Fig. '1, we have designated generally by the letter R, mechanism for raising the arms 36 to lift the roller 4| for the purpose previously described. This mechanism is shown in detail in Fig. 8, wherein the numeral 6| indicates a strip twisted intermediate its end to place the surface of one end in a horizontal plane and the other in a vertical plane, the former end 62 being connected at 63 to an angle plate 64 which is also connected as by screws or bolts 65 to the board 58. An angle bracket 66 is secured to the top of the 3 table beneath the plate 32 and a cam or bell The upper end 16 of the member 61 isimmediately beneath the plate 32. Obviously, if the operator leans against the board 58 to swing it on links 59 against the action of springs 66 toward the table, the member 61 is rotated on its pivot 68 so that the end 16 raises the plate 32 and consequently the arms 36 to lift the roller 4| to the dot and dash position of Fig. 3. When the operator removes his weight from the board 58, the spring 51 pulls the arms 36 down and the springs. 66 push the board 58 out. This action is very quick as also is the raising of the arms 36. We wish it to be understood that we may use other means than that specifically shown and described in Figs. '1 and 8 for accomplishing the raising and lowering of the arms 36, such for instance, as a foot pedal operating a lever or cam.

In operation, to form a unitary spring struc-v ture, a plurality of coil springs are placed on the front row of pegs P, and with the motor M operating to rotate the pulley l2, sprockets l6, l1, 2|, 31, and the gears driven thereby, and consequently the rollers 28, 29, 4| and portions 28', 29', 4| in the same direction, one end of the wire 44 is inserted through the funnel-shaped- As the end of the wire approaches the first spring,

the operator may lean on the board 58 to stop the feedingof the wire by raising the roll 4|. He then positions the wire with respect to the spring, releases the board 58 so that the wire is coiled around the spring and projected toward the second spring, at which time he again stops the feeding of the wire and positionsthe end of the wire with respect to the second spring, and so on, until the entire line of springs have been tied' together along their outer edges. This row of springs is then moved back to the second row of pegs, and another row of springs is inserted on the first row of pegs, after which another wire 44 is insertedand fed, to tie the two rows of springs together as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. Between each pair of springs, the operator may stop the feeding to position the end of the wire and the coils, so'that they will be accurately tied together. The operation is very rapid and at no time is the rotation of the rollers stopped, so that they are always rotating at a fairly rapid rate, and as they approach each other and all engage the wire 44, the latter is quickly projected and rotated to tie the springs together.

The construction and arrangement of the apparatus above described is such as to bind only tops or bottoms of the springs together without together at their other ends. This is due to the spiral wire feeding mechanism which may be located in alinement either with the bottoms or tops of the springs. We provide, however, a

double or tandem arrangement of wire feeding mechanism, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, wherein the primed numerals designate the same parts designated by ,unprimed numerals in Figs. l-8. The base plate 8' of the lower feeding mechanism is secured to the top of the table T by elongated bolts 15 and i8, the lower ends of which receive washers l1 and nuts I8. Nuts 19 are threaded on the bolts 15 andv i6 to'bear against the top of the base 8', and the bolts extend upwardly through openings 88 in a second base 8" of feeding mechanism substantially identical with the lower mechanism. Nuts 8| and 82 bear against the opposite faces of the base 8" to hold the same at a predetermined height above the lower mechanism. As shown in Fig. 18, a second belt 83 similar to the belt 13' is driven by a pulley 84 on the shaft of the motor M and is trained around a second pulley 85 similar to the pulley I2 of Figs. 1-7 or I2 of Fig. 10. The pulley 85 is keyed to a shaft 86 similar to the shaft II to rotate the feeding discs of the upper feeding mechanism in the identical manner with the lower feeding mechanism. To accomplish the simultaneous separation of the feeding rollers on the upper and lower mechanisms, a bolt 81 is threaded into the plate 32' which is engaged by the end I8 of member G'I'and a nut 88 is threaded on the bolt 81 to bear against the top of the plate 32'. The upper end of the bolt 81 is rigidly secured to a plate 89 similar to the plate 32' and which is connected to a lever 98 similar to the lever 38' and pivoted on a shaft 9I similar to the shaft Il' supported by extensions 92 similar to the extensions 9'. A spring 93 is attached at one end to the plate 89 and at its other end to its base 8" serving the same function as the spring 51 of Figs. l-8, namely, to hold the lever 98 normally down.

Obviously, the mechanism of Figs. 1-8 may be arranged and connected as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, one above the other to operate in unison, so that tops and bottoms of coil springs arranged on a single row of pegs may be tied together without turning the coil springs over as would be 1218085881? where a single feeding mechanism is use Under the construction and arrangement of parts thus far described, particularly with reference to the feed rollers of Figs. l-8, if spiral wires of different pitches are used then the feed rollers must be interchanged, due to the fact that the feed rollers previously described are unitary structures.

Another modification of the invention resides in providing feeding discs in place of the unitary rollers with means for relatively adjusting the discs to accommodate spiral wires of different pitches.

In Fig. 9 the discs are indicated generally by the numeral 95 and are keyed on their respective shafts 98, corresponding to shafts 23, 24, 39 of Fig. 2. The lever arms 98 have secured therebetween a plate 91 as by means of wing nuts 98 engaging screws 99 disposed through slots I88 (see Fig. 11 in the plate), and each of the discs 95 is provided with a groove I 8|. The plate 9'! is provided with forward extensions or fingers I82 which are disposed between the discs 95 to maintain them in predetermined spaced relation. The

width of the fingers I82 determines the distance which the discs are spaced from each other, and, of course, 'there may be several sets of plates with fingers of different widths to adjust the discs for feeding spiral wires of different pitches. It will be understood that the discs may slide along the shaft on the key 98 when making adjustments.- A plate 91' similar to the plate 91 is mounted on top of the sides I8 of the base 8" and the base 8' to space the rear lower rollers; while a plate I83 is secured to the front of each of the bases 8' and 8" as by screws I88, and is provided with spacer fingers I85 for the front lower sets of discs.

Another means of adjustably connecting the discs on their respective shafts is shown in Fig. 12, where the discs are designated generally by the numeral I88, and one of the shafts is designated as I81 and is provided with a longitudinal groove I88. Each of the discs I86 under the embodlment of the invention shown in Fig. 12 is provided with a radial screw threaded bore I89 which receives a set screw I I8 of sufiicient length to engage at its lower end in the groove I88 when the upper flat end is flush with or just below the peripheral grooves in the discs. Obviously by loosening the screws the discs may be moved longitudinally along the shaft and adjusted relative to each other. To facilitate relative positioning of the discs to accommodate spiral wires of different pitches, we may provide guides such as shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 12, and designated by the numeral I I I. Such guides comprise plates having at predetermined intervals projections II2 to engage in the grooves of the discs. When the plate III is properly positioned and the grooves of the discs are engaged'by the projections III, the screws II8 are tightened to lock the discs to the shaft for rotation therewith.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for tying coil springs together with a spirally formed wire comprising a table, a plurality of rollers mounted thereon, means to rotate the rollers, said rollers being formed with grooves relatively arranged to receive the spirally formed wire, whereby as the rollers rotate they will move the wire toward the springs to be tied thereby while simultaneously rotating the spirally formed wire, means to move the rollers out of cooperating relation to stop said forward and rotating movement of the wire as desired without stopping rotation of the rollers, and an actuating member for said last means mounted across the front of the table.

2. Apparatus for tying coil springs together with a spirally formed wire comprising a table, a

plurality of rollers mounted on said table, means normally holding said rollers near each other, means to rotate the rollers, adjacent arcuate surfaces of the rollers providing a space through which the wire is fed, means to guide insertion of the wire into said space, said rollers being formed 'with grooves arranged to receive the spirally a supporting frame on said table, rollers rotatably supported by said frame, means to rotate said rollers, an auxiliary frame hingedly supported at one end by said first frame,- at least one roller rotatably supported by said auxiliary frame between said one end and its other end and adjacent said first rollers, all of said rollers having grooves arranged thereon to receive the spirally formed wire in the space between the rollers, means to rotate said second roller whereby when all of the rollers are in engagement with the wire and are being rotated the wire will also be rotated and fed forwardly, a spring normally holding said other end of the auxiliary frame down with all of said rollers in wire engaging position, means to move said auxiliary frame relative to said first frame to move said second roller away from said first rollers and away from said wire to stop said rotating and forward movement thereof without stopping rotation of the rollers, and an actuating member for said last means mounted across the front of the table.

4. In apparatus for tying coil springs together with spirally formed wires and including a plu rality of driven shafts, discs on said shafts provided with circumferential grooves to receive the spirally formed wires, means adiustably connecting said discs to said shafts and permitting different spacing of the discs relative to each other on said shafts to accommodate spiral wires of different pitches.

5. In apparatus for tying coil springs together with spirally formed wires and including a plurality of driven shafts, a plurality of discs arranged on the shafts and each having a circumferential groove to receive the wires, a spacer for the discs on each shaft comprising, a member having projecting fingers located between the discs to maintain them in predetermined spaced relation, said members being interchangeable to adjust the spacing of the discs to accommodate spiral wires of difierent pitches.

SAMUEL KRAKAlJER. SAMUEL s. MARCUS. 

